Support for liquid applicator



June 20, 1961 R. W. HILL SUPPORT FOR LIQUID APPLICATOR Filed Feb. 20,1958 Patented June 20, 1961 United States PatentOihce 2,988,768 SUPPORTFOR LIQUID APPLICATOR Ross W. Hill, 15815 Witcomb, Detroit 27, Mich.Filed Feb. 20, 1958, Ser. No. 716,336 4 Claims. (Cl. 15-517) Thisinvention relates generally to a support for applicators, and, moreparticularly, to a means for removably mounting one or more liquidapplicators, such as paint brushes, in a conveniently accessibleposition relative to the user thereof and, more specifically, on aliquid container such as a paint can or pail.

As will be apparent to those who have had the occasion to work withliquid applicators of the type comprising a handle with a brush thereonfor painting, varnishing, applying sealing liquids to various objectsand the like, no means is provided for conveniently supporting theapplicator when not in use. Consequently, when the liquid applyingoperation is discontinued, and particularly temporarily so, there is noout-of-the-way but conveniently accessible place in which to put theapplicator so that the brush thereof will not come into contact withclothing, scaffolding, a ladder or the like, or pick up dirt or otherdebris.

This problem is accentuated with respect to painters utilizing aconventional paint brush, and particularly commercial painters, becausethey normally work on ladders or scaffolding with a plurality of paintbrushes. For example, commercial painters normally carry several brushesof difierent sizes in order to enable them to elficiently andeconomically paint large surfaces as well asdo trim or finish workwithout descending from the ladder or scaffolding. Additionally,commercial painters particularly will usually carry two or morerelatively large brushes for painting ceilings inasmuch as the paint inthe bristles of any given brush tends to seep toward the handle thereofand flow .onto the hand of the painter. Thus, in painting ceilings, thepainter will normally alternate brushes to avoid the aforementionedsituation. In any event and irrespective of the particular reason why aplurality of brushes are required, it will be readily apparent that theonly place usually available for a painter to place his brushes when notin use is on the floor of the scaffold, a relatively small platform on aladder or on paper or canvas resting on the floor or the ground.

From the situations referred to briefly above, it will be readilyapparent that the commercial painter particularly' must contend withtransporting a plurality of brushes when ascending or descending aladder or scaffold. Thus, it will be recognized that at least one handis completely occupied with holding the paint can or pail and one ormore brushes while the other hand must be relied upon for climbing aladder, for example. Moreover, it is not unusual for a commercialpainter to carry a brush in the other hand which, for safety reasons,should at least be completely free for negotiating the ladder.

It is, therefore, a general object of this invention to provide asimple, relatively inexpensive and easily manufactured mountingstructure which may be employed with a'conveniently available support toremovably mount one or more liquid applicators, such as a brushused forpainting, varnishing, applying sealing liquids and the like, in a safebut conveniently accessible place out of the way of the user thereof.

It is another object of this invention to provide a mounting bracket onwhich one or more liquid applicators may be fixedly, adjustably orremovably secured to a liquid container, such as the well known paintcan or commercial painters pail, whereby the liquid applicators not inuse may be suspended from and transported with the container out ofcontact with the latter and the ground, ladder or scaffold as the casemay be.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a mounting bracketstructure as aforementioned which includes means for supporting theparticular liquid applicator or applicators from the side wall of thecontainer in such a manner as to prevent substantial swinging movementof the applicator laterally against the container or in a planesubstantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the container.

More specifically, and with reference to one preferred embodiment ofthis invention, it is an object of this invention to provide mountingbrackets for the purpose aforementioned which may be suitably fixedlysecured to the exterior side wall of the liquid container, and whichbrackets include means spaced from the container to receive and supporta suitable keeper secured to the applicator, and an abutment member forengagement with the applicator to suspend the latter above the base ofand out of contact with the container.

These and other objects of this invention will become more apparenthereinafter as the description of the invention proceeds, and whichreference is made to various applicator mounting structures adaptedspecificallyfor use by painters who are ordinarily faced by the severalproblems aforementioned. However, it will be apparent from thedescription which follows that the structure of this invention may beadvantageously employed in removably supporting various types of liquidapplicators other than paint brushes. In the description of theinvention which follows, reference will be made to the followingdrawings in which like numerals indicate like parts, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a paint container or pailequipped with a preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of the structureof FIGURE 1 showing the paint brush demounted;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of a paint can or pailequipped with still another embodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspectiveof this invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on line s, "s of FIGURE 4.

, Referring now more particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2' showing apreferred embodiment of this invention, a paint container such as acommercial painters pail or the well known and commercially availablepaint can is indicated generally at 2, and includes diametricallyopposite ears 4, only one of which is shown, to which the wire bale orhandle 6 is pivotally mounted in a well known manner. One or moremounting brackets 8 are rigidly secured to the exterior side wall of thecontainer 2, and adapted to suspend a paint brush 10 therefrom in spacedrelation to the exterior side wall of the container and above the baseof the latter so as not to touch the support on which the can isresting. The paint brush 10 is a well known and commercial availablearticle comprising bristles 12 suitably embedded in or secured to abristle base, such as vulcanized rubber or any other suitable material,and which base is secured to the lower end of the wood handle 14 bymeans of a metal band 16 crimped from-other suitable materials,comprises a main body portion 20 suitably fixedly secured to the sidewall of the container 2, a laterally or radially outwardly projectingportion forming a mounting shoulder 22, and a vertically upstanding post24. The lower end of the, body: portion of. the. bracket is providedwith another laterally or radially projecting wall portion 26 whichterminates just- The base of the U-shaped staple will then rest uponthe:

shoulder 22 of the bracket, while the brush will be engageable with thebracket wall portion 26.

It will be noted from FIGURE 2 that the shoulder 22 of the bracket has asubstantial width relative to the staple 18. Consequently, the brushwill be prevented from pivoting to any substantial degree in a planeparallel t the longitudinal aXis of the container, while the wallportion 26 of the bracket abutting the brush stabilizes the latterlaterally so as to prevent the wet bristles thereof from engaging theside wall of the container.

When more than onebracket 8 is mounted on a container such as shown inFIGURE 1, it is desirable that they be equally spaced to either side ofa given ear 4 or diametrically opposite each other so that brushesmounted thereon will counter-balance each other. Obviously, with manycontainers the brackets may be located beneath the ears 4 completelysolving this problem. It should also be observed that the shape of thebrackets 8 is such as to space the handle 14 of the brushes away fromthe path of movement of the wire handle 6 at least to the extent thatthe container opening is completely accessible. Moreover, where the post24 of the respective brackets is relatively close to the side wall ofthe container it is preferable that they terminate slightly below therim of the container to avoid the danger of the bracket orbrackets'being dislodged or bent by reason of a stacked containerslipping off its supporting container and striking the bracket.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, a plurality of the brackets 8 shown inFIGURES 1 and 2 are adapted to be suitably fixedly secured to a band 58the ends of which are urged together by the spring 60. Thus, thecontainer 2 may be provided with mounting brackets merely by slippingthe band 58 onto the side wall thereof inasmuch asthe spring 60 willretain the band in a proper position on the container. Moreover, thebrackets may be vertically adjusted relative to the container as desiredby moving band 58.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 4, the bracket 8 disclosed specifically inFIGURES 1 and 2 is shown to be suitably fixedly secured to the exteriorof the legs of a U-shaped spring clip 62 which is adapted to embrace aladder leg 64 and may engage a rung 66 secured thereto, although thetension of the clip will ordinarily be sulficient to hold it in place.From the drawings, it will be obvious that the bracket is so mounted onthe clip 62 so as to be maintained in a substantially vertical positionwith the ladder inclined against a wall or other support.

With respect to the brackets thus far described, each isprovided with alower laterally projecting abutment portion terminating in a verticalplane slightly outwardly spaced from the plane of the respective bracketposts as tain the brush in a substantially vertical position.

aforedescribed... This relationship is prompted by, the...

fact that the keeper means on the brush, such as staple 18 in FIGURE 1,will suspend the brush slightly laterally outward of the bracket post.Thus, the lower bracket portion, such as indicated at 26 in FIGURES 1and 2, projects beyond the plane of the bracket post to main- However,the lower projection can terminate directly below the aforementionedbracket posts or even inwardly thereof so long as the brush ismaintained spaced from the container.

From the description above of various preferred embodiments of thisinvention, it will now be obvious to those acquainted with this art thatthere are alternative structures additional to those disclosed which maybe used in achieving the objects of this invention in whole or in part.Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments herein disclosedare merely for illustrative purposes, and in no way are intended tolimit the scope of this invention which is defined by the claims whichfollow.

I claim:

1. The combination with a support and a brushtype liquid applicator, ofa mounting bracket on which said applicator may be removably mounted;said bracket comprising a main body portion secured flush to saidsupport, a shoulder projecting laterally from the upper end of said mainbody portion and terminating in an upwardly extending post spaced fromsaid support, an abutment member projecting laterally from the lower endof said main body portion and terminating below said post, and asubstantially U-shaped retainer secured to said applicator for receivingsaid post and removably seating on said bracket shoulder, saidapplicator being engagable with said abutment member to maintain saidapplicator in spaced relation to said support.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which said support is theupstanding side wall of a liquid container.

3. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which said support comprisesa split band including spring means joining the ends thereof forremovably securing the band to the upstanding side wall of a liquidcontainer.

4. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which said support comprisesa U-shaped spring clip adapted to be removably mounted on the leg of aladder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS409,152 Kinney Aug. 13, 1889 419,585 Crapo Jan. 14, 1890 601,392 BowdenMar. 29, 1898 800,014 Purdy Sept. 19, 1905' 1,262,920 Chouvaldjy Apr.16, 1918 1,397,807 Hecht Nov. 22, 1921 1,481,935 Terrell Jan. 29, 19241,883,834 Turner Oct. 18, 1932 2,291,343 Millstone et al July 28, 19422,506,333 Bedynek May 2, 1950 2,540,860 Blomquist Feb. 6, 1951 2,560,228Kosorok July 10, 1951 2,646,808 Yenne July 28, 1953 2,723,826 ZanelliNov. 15, 1955 2,842,264 Larson July 8, 1958

